a bit more about the obl tape from al-jazeera.



antiwar.com has a piece about obl denouncing saddam and demanding his overthrow.



this has been edited out of reports at e.g. msnbc because it's inconvenient for the war party, who are trying to use the tape to link obl and saddam as allies.



a more honest version is available at reuters, wherein obl urges muslims to defend iraq from infidels - not to defend saddam:



'the statement did not express support for iraqi president saddam hussein -- it said muslims should support the iraqi people rather than the country's government. "the fighting should be in the name of god only, not in the name of national ideologies, nor to seek victory for the ignorant governments that rule all arab states, including iraq," the statement said. earlier this month, saddam said he had no links with al qaeda. bin laden has often criticized saddam in the past'.



so, maybe the tape wasn't fabricated, after all - but it's certainly being very selectively posted and powell did mention it before al-jazeera broadcast it - how did he know about it?